1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of frequent shopper programs, and in particular, to a frequent shopper program which recognizes frequent shoppers who cross over between an electronic commerce (e-commerce) site and a related in-store site managed through a traditional point of sale (POS) system.
2. Description of Related Art
Developing the Internet as a consumer-direct marketing channel is receiving much focus by dealers of retail goods. However, current practice has identified several contributing factors acting as barriers to wide acceptance of this new marketing channel. First, consumers like the frequent shopper programs provided by the conventional in-store retailer. Second, consumers do not always want to shop exclusively on-line. On occasion, shoppers are likely to return to the conventional in-store site to view and perhaps purchase new items in person. Such shoppers are referred to herein as cross-over shoppers.
Modern POS systems provide the infrastructure to allow retail operators to offer frequent shopping programs to their customers. A frequent shopping program will typically segment customers into two or more groups depending on how much money the shoppers spend. The actual limits are typically determined by the retail operator taking into account the economics of the region served by the store and other criteria.
At check-out, the POS can reward the frequent shopper by applying a discount to the purchase. The size of the discount is usually computed as a function of the group to which the shopper belongs. Naturally, the best shoppers receive the highest discount.
Consumers who switch to an e-commerce site of the retailer, and thereafter choose to regularly patronize the on-line site will lose their standing as a frequent shopper of the in-store site and the benefits that go along with frequent shopper status. For those times shoppers choose to shop in the in-store site, this loss of status will lead to consumer dissatisfaction. Similarly, those shoppers who always patronized the on-line e-commerce site of the retailer are not likely to be recognized and rewarded as a frequent shopper for those times the shoppers shop in the in-store site. Again, this situation leads to consumer dissatisfaction.
In accordance with the inventive arrangements, a unique method provides an interface to an on-line vendor""s e-commerce site that can extract a consumer""s shopping habits from the history of the on-line vendor""s shopping list database. The data extracted can then be used by the POS frequent shopper system to maintain an accurate picture of the consumer""s true buying habits and reward consumers appropriately when consumers shop in the conventional store.
Any invention that will support POS frequent shopper programs whether the consumer shops in-store or on-line will provide significant advantages to the consumer in terms of the discounts and rewards offered by a conventional POS frequent shopping program. The retailer will also benefit by making both the in-store and on-line shopping experiences so attractive that the consumer will return for subsequent/replenishment shopping in-store or on-line.
A method for recognizing on-line shoppers as frequent shoppers requires several parts, and is advantageously implemented with a POS system having a frequent shopper database with access a shopper""s list or lists of prior purchases from a selected on-line e-commerce site. A POS query interface can advantageously be implemented as a client/server-based tool. A list builder tool can query a POS system for the prior shopping history of a customer, when that customer has previously shopped the POS system or is otherwise of record in the POS system, for example as a result of a registration process. The query can be qualified by, for example, last purchase date, a range of dates, or a specific holiday period. The query can be qualified by other criteria as well. A customer is therefore known to the POS system when that customer is a member of a POS-managed frequent shopper or loyalty program.
A method for managing a frequent shopper program at a site providing both electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping and in-store shopping, in accordance with an inventive arrangement, comprises the steps of: establishing a point of sale (POS) system, having a POS loyalty database and a POS purchase history database; establishing a list builder tool having an on-line shopping history database; establishing a query interface enabling communications between the POS system, the list builder tool and a network browser; updating the POS purchase history database with information from the on-line shopping history database through the query interface; and, determining a shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount by accessing information from the updated POS purchase history database, whereby an in-store shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount is also based on the in-store shopper""s on-line purchasing history.
A method for managing a frequent shopper program at a site providing both electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping and in-store shopping, in accordance with a further inventive arrangement, comprises the steps of: establishing a point of sale (POS) system, having a POS loyalty database and a POS purchase history database; establishing a list builder tool having an on-line shopping history database; establishing a query interface enabling communications between the POS system, the list builder tool and a network browser; updating the on-line shopping history database with information from the POS purchase history database through the query interface; and, determining a shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount by accessing information from the updated on-line shopping history database, whereby an on-line shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount is also based on the on-line shopper""s in-store purchasing history.
A method for managing a frequent shopper program at a site providing both electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping and in-store shopping, in accordance with another inventive arrangement, comprises the steps of: establishing a point of sale (POS) system, having a POS loyalty database and a POS purchase history database; establishing a list builder tool having an on-line shopping history database; establishing a query interface enabling communications between the POS system, the list builder tool and a network browser; updating the on-line shopping history database with information from the POS purchase history database through the query interface; updating the POS purchase history database with information from the on-line shopping history database through the query interface; and, determining a shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount by accessing information from the updated POS purchase history database and the updated on-line shopping history database, whereby the shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount is based on the shopper""s on-line and in-store purchasing histories.
In each of the foregoing method inventive arrangements, the updating steps can take place on at least one of the following: a demand from the POS system; a demand from the list builder tool; a scheduled basis; and, automatically after the on-line shopping history database and the POS purchase history database undergo respective changes.
In each of the foregoing inventive arrangements, the method can further comprise the step of establishing a POS authentication database for the POS system.
In each of the foregoing inventive arrangements, the method can also further comprise the step of enabling the communications in the query interface establishing communications over at least one of the Internet, a wide area network and a local area network.
A frequent shopper program for a vendor site providing both electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping and in-store shopping, in accordance with yet another inventive arrangement, comprises: a point of sale (POS) system, having a POS loyalty database and a POS purchase history database; a list builder tool having an on-line shopping history database; a query interface enabling communications between the POS system, the list builder tool and a network browser; means for updating the POS purchase history database with information from the on-line shopping history database through the query interface; and, means for determining a shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount by accessing information from the updated POS purchase history database, whereby an in-store shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount is also based on the in-store shopper""s on-line purchasing history.
A frequent shopper program for a vendor site providing both electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping and in-store shopping, in accordance with yet another inventive arrangement, comprises: a point of sale (POS) system, having a POS loyalty database and a POS purchase history database; a list builder tool having an on-line shopping history database; a query interface enabling communications between the POS system, the list builder tool and a network browser; means for updating the on-line shopping history database with information from the POS purchase history database through the query interface; and, means for determining a shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount by accessing information from the updated on-line shopping history database, whereby an on-line shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount is also based on the on-line shopper""s in-store purchasing history.
A frequent shopper program for a vendor site providing both electronic commerce (e-commerce) shopping and in-store shopping, in accordance with yet another inventive arrangement, comprises: a point of sale (POS) system, having a POS loyalty database and a g POS purchase history database; a list builder tool having an on-line shopping history database; a query interface enabling communications between the POS system, the list builder tool and a network browser; means for updating the on-line shopping history database with information from the POS purchase history database through the query interface; means for updating the POS purchase history database with information from the on-line shopping history database through the query interface; and, means for determining a shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount by accessing information from the updated POS purchase history database and the updated on-line shopping history database, whereby the shopper""s entitlement to a frequent shopper discount is based on the shopper""s on-line and in-store purchasing histories.
In each of the foregoing program inventive arrangements, the databases can be updated on at least one of: a demand from the POS system; a demand from the list builder tool; a scheduled basis; and, automatically after the on-line shopping history database and the POS purchase history database undergo respective changes.
In each of the foregoing program inventive arrangements, the program can further comprise a POS authentication database for the POS system.
In each of the foregoing program inventive arrangements, the communications enabled by the query interface is over at least one of the Internet, a wide area network and a local area network.